The Forestry Field Tour

A Story of Stewardship and Partnership

By Dave Conser

Sam wanted more longleaf, though, so he and his friends were hard at work establishing this native species on the other 80 acres as well. His friends, those helping him with the manageam stepped out onto his back porch, coffee cup in hand, as he did every morning. The view still warmed his heart: big, old, natural longleaf Longleaf regeneration in wiregrass understory. Photo by Randy Tate. S pine, more trees in some places, more scattered in others. They ment of his land, would be here in a couple of hours to make stood as silent sentinels of grandeur in the early morning light, the final preparations for tomorrow’s tour of his property. Sam’s but later this afternoon, they would sing in the breeze. What wildlife biologist told him that as many as 60 or 70 folks might

Sam had grown to love and appreciate was underneath the lonattend – foresters, wildlife biologists, other natural resource gleaf pines – the beautiful savanna of grasses and wildflowers professionals, but mainly fellow landowners. He was happy to – the native groundcover. He thought, “What once covered show the place off. They had made good progress, even though almost all of this local country, all across the southeastern there was still much to accomplish.

United States, is now so rare.” Sam knew he was blessed to The door to the porch creaked open as his 7-year-old grandfind this place for sale 17 years ago; the previous owner preson, Billy, stepped out. Billy was visiting with his family, who served these 40 acres of natural longleaf because it reminded had come for the tour, but as much as anything, to enjoy the him of his childhood and growing up on the land. For Sam, land. “Grandpa, are they going to burn the trees tomorrow?” buying the property had been a no-brainer. Sam replied, “If the weather holds out, they plan on burning a

Field tours, like this one in Bamberg County, South Carolina in 2017, bring a diversity of partners together, including landowners, natural resource managers, and the public. Photo by Bobby Franklin.

small area of the big pines, right over there, to show the people how it’s done.” “What if it rains?” Billy asked. “Well, it’s not supposed to, but you know what, Billy? That grass under the pines is so special that even with some rain, it can be dry enough to burn in a couple of hours once the sun comes out.” Billy’s eyes opened wide, half in amazement, half in disbelief. Sam thought about his county forester and rangers from the state forest service, demonstrating a small, easy prescribed burn on the five acres. They had helped him with so many burns, to the point that he had learned enough to pull his own permits. Sam and Billy both caught the smell of bacon, wafting through the open windows. They looked at each other, a silent understanding between them. It was time to go back inside.

Later that morning, vehicles started pulling in. First to arrive was John, the wildlife biologist from the state wildlife commission. John was organizing the property tour, together with a half dozen other natural resource professionals including Kathy, the county forester, Scott, Sam’s consulting forester, Connie from the Natural Resource Conservation Service, Ad from The Longleaf Alliance, Steve the extension specialist from the University’s School of Forestry, and Mary from the Rolling Hills Conservation Trust.

Sam made his way out to the assembled group and greeted everyone. He thought about the wonderful community of partners they represented. This land they were stewarding was all the better because of each one of them.

John spoke up, “Sam, we really appreciate you sharing your property with us, and especially with the group tomorrow. The plan is to meet up here with all the folks, have you introduce yourself and your family, express the passion we know you have for this property, and talk about your management objectives. We’ll then load up in vans and make four stops to show off your work. We hope to be back at your barn for lunch.” They decided that at lunch Steve would go over the booklet he developed for the attendees, covering their tour. Mary and Sam would also explain the conservation easement sold by Sam to the Rolling Hills Conservation Trust, ensuring his land would remain in longleaf pine.

“Sounds good,” said Sam. “In so many ways, I don’t feel like I own this land, only take care of it with all of y’all.” “I hear ya’,” replied John, “Let’s go visit each stop and make a dry run of who is going to say what.” They loaded up in their vehicles and headed off.

The first stop was a 16-year-old longleaf pine plantation. They decided that Kathy, the county forester, would discuss

how this stand was established on a former pasture, scalped and planted to longleaf pine. The wildlife biologist, John, would discuss the rotational disking (harrowing) Sam had carried out, and how that had benefitted wildlife habitat, discouraging the pasture grass and promoting native herbaceous plants. Both Kathy and the consulting forester, Scott, could talk about the prescribed burning they took turns conducting in this stand on a two- to three-year rotation. But the greatest impact at this stop would be last year’s selective harvesting Scott would discuss. As his consulting forester, Scott had listened to Sam’s objective for longer rotations, fewer trees per acre, and a more savanna-type appearance. The stand was marked for pole production, favoring trees straight enough, and of the quality, to be future transmission poles, the highest value pine product in the Southeast. Sam could talk about how this would create both future revenues and meet his objectives.

At their second stop, they arrived at Sam’s most ambitious project, a former loblolly plantation recently harvested and scheduled to be replanted in a particular way. Ad, from The Longleaf Alliance, would describe the plan to plant with native groundcover species first, followed by longleaf pine. This would involve choosing selective herbicides to treat competing vegetation, burning to remove slash and debris, possible follow-up treatments, and then planting native groundcover seed. There was even a possibility of gathering some of the seed from under Sam’s big longleaf as a donor site, then planting it here, thus expanding the beautiful savanna-like groundcover that Sam appreciated so much. From the Natural Resource Conservation Service, Connie would talk about the financial incentives Sam would receive to partially offset the project's expense.

Demonstrating different management techniques, like understory seed collection for groundcover restoration, engages field tour participants. Photo by

Carol Denhof.

A three-year-old longleaf plantation awaited them at the third stop. The proud little longleaf were bolting up out of the grass stage, about three feet tall on average. Sam had already burned this stand, after seeing the results of Mary’s demonstration burn of young longleaf on the Rolling Hills Conservation Trust property. At this site, Scott, the consulting forester, would discuss the spot herbicide treatment of residual hardwood trees that had escaped control by the site preparation herbicide treatment and prescribed burning. Sam would also talk about his work in this stand controlling cogongrass, one of the worst invasive plants in the world. He had based his treatment on information provided by Steve, the extension forester from the local state university.

They saved the best stop for last. The big longleaf with native groundcover was a magnificent sight. The pines were 80 to 120 years old, and the previous owner had burned the stand religiously every winter at night. However, Sam’s land management friends advised him to switch over to burning in the growing season, in blocks, on a two- to four-year rotation. They could all take turns discussing the incredible diversity of the savanna-like groundcover, its value for wildlife, the importance of bunchgrasses for quail and other wildlife, the benefit of the healthy gopher tortoise population - providing a refuge for almost 400 animal species, the prescribed burning strategy for burning in May through August, the natural regeneration of new seedlings, and the management of a stand with uneven age classes / multiple size trees. Likely there would be a demonstration burn tomorrow.

Sam recalled the statement he heard on a previous landowner tour, when the host remarked, “We are in year 20 of a 300-year restoration project.” At the time, he had been surprised and somewhat disheartened. He smiled, remembering how, after a period of reflection, he had taken a step back to look at the bigger picture. He was managing the longleaf on his property with the help of his friends. Not so much for himself, but for others — his children, grandchildren, friends, and generations to come as a treasured legacy.